Blair's blushes:the PM's embarrassing moments
Updated on 10 May 2007
Slow-hand-clapping, sweating too much, a Beatle's song, we look at some of the most cringeworthy moments of the Tony Blair years.
All those state visits, talking to people you don't really want to talk to, having to wear a perma-grin in a television age - it's not just stressful being prime minister, it can be downright embarrassing too.
The days are gone when you could get away with being a taciturn leader like Ted Heath, scowling at journalists with the contempt they deserve - that kind of surliness just doesn't wash in personality-driven culture.
We have dug up some of the most cringe-worthy moments of Blair's tenure, from the tight jeans to the sweaty shirts and everything in between.
Cherie's song
Still, it may over a decade away, but when Tony Blair hits the big 64, he can look at the rendition by his beloved wife on a tour of China in 2001 of the Beatles classic with some nostalgia. He makes a good fist of it, but whether he will be sending her a Valentine is another matter.
Watch Cherie singing
Slow hand clap
Able to spar in the bear pit of Prime Minister's Questions with the deftness of a prize fighter, Blair was no match for the vengeance of WI women scorned when unimpressed with the content of his speech, he was first heckled and then slow handclapped.
Well, maybe he convinced himself that the older you get, the slower you applaud....
Watch the slow hand clap
Blair's tight jeans
Tony Blair's visit to George Bush had him in full gin-slinger, alpha-male mode with jeans so tight, you couldn't keep a quarter in them without it being seen.
See Tony's tight jeans
Sweaty Blair
If genius is 90% perspiration, 10% inspiration, the same could be said about a party conference speech.
At the Labour conference in 2001, oblivious to the Lynx Affect, Blair sweats his way through and at the end looks more like a someone who has ran a marathon than addressed his party faithful.
See Tony's sweaty moment
Tomato hit
Tomato sandwich anyone? Arriving in Bristol, Blair was given the treatment normally reserved for comedians who bomb.
See Tony's tomato hit
Yo Blair
It sounded more like the kind of exchange you hear at the pub between two blokes discussing their football team's fortunes than two world leaders discussing the future of the Middle East.
But when George Bush who didn't even have the manners to stop eating, said "Yo Blair" to a grovelling prime minister, it told us all we needed to know about the special relationship.
See Yo Blair
Tony played guitar
He once had a band called Ugly Rumours, when Tony went to a school and gave us a lick of his own guitarist skills, he was less than impressive, wasn't he supposed to be playing in G?
See Tony play
Sharon stops Blair
Even the phalanx of minders and spin doctors could not stop the cold air of truth in this supposed photo-opportunity walkabout when Sharon Storer buttonholed Mr Blair and demanded some answers as to the treatment of her cancer-suffering partner.
See Tony stopped by Sharon
